Pictures: Giant Squid Get Extreme Plastic Surgery

Giant Squid's Inner Life Revealed

Image courtesy and copyright Gunther von Hagens, Institute for Plastination

The result of two years' work, 12 plastination technicians' efforts, and 396 gallons (1,500 liters) of silicone, a 16-foot-long (5-meter) preserved giant squid—one of two recently plastinated—is shown in a double exposure.

On one side (bottom), the squid has been cross-sectioned, revealing the inner structure and organs usually hidden by the mantle.

"Knowing the condition they were in when I sent them to [plastination pioneer Gunther von Hagens], this is fantastic reconstructive surgery," squid expert Steve O'Shea said. "This guy is an artist."

(Related: "Cadaver Exhibition Draws Crowds, Controversy in Florida.")

Published March 26, 2010

Giant Squid to Be Separated

Image courtesy and copyright Gunther von Hagens, Institute for Plastination

Positioned as if reluctantly parting ways, the two plastinated giant squid will soon be oceans apart.

One giant squid will return to New Zealand and be displayed at Auckland University of Technology's  Earth and Oceanic Sciences Research Institute. The other will tour internationally in a "Body Worlds" exhibition.

Giant squid grow to a length of about 33 feet (10 meters) and are only rarely encountered live. More than 130 have been recovered, mainly from fishing nets and beach strandings, around the coast of New Zealand.

Published March 26, 2010

Giant Squid, Pre-Plastination

Photograph courtesy and copyright Gunther von Hagens, Institute for Plastination

Prior to the plastination process, one of the two giant squid, which had been frozen for the trip from New Zealand, thawed in liquid formaldehyde in a Chinese lab, which helps arrest decay.

Plastination pioneer Gunther von Hagens practiced on dozens of lesser squid before cutting into what squid expert Steve O'Shea called the "two priceless specimens."

(Related: "Alien-like Squid With 'Elbows' Filmed at Drilling Site.")

Published March 26, 2010

Pre-Plastination Dissection

Photograph courtesy and copyright Gunther von Hagens, Institute for Plastination

During 105 hours of dissection (pictured), the squid's skin and much of their fatty and connective tissues were removed.

In 1975 Gunther von Hagens developed plastination as a way to study anatomy and physiology. Plastinated specimens do not decay.

(Related pictures: colossal squid revealed in first in-depth look.)

Published March 26, 2010

Let the Plastination Begin

Photograph courtesy and copyright Gunther von Hagens, Institute for Plastination

After dissection, one of the giant squid awaits the start of the plastination process, which took 260 hours for both specimens.

Next, acetone, the solvent used on nail polish remover, will be injected to dissolve remaining materials such as soluble fats, which will then be vacuumed out. The resulting cavities will be filled with silicone.

Plastination has preserved the inner secrets of giraffes, horses, and people. But the giant squid, which contain huge amounts of water, posed a huge challenge.

The creature's easily damaged skin demanded that body fluids be replaced with silicone at a much slower rate. Furthermore, maintaining a lifelike posture with no skeleton to support it demanded all of von Hagens's skills—as did the creatures' complex eyes, notoriously difficult organs to preserve.

The result, said squid expert Steve O'Shea, "is as much art as it is science."

(See the first ever pictures of a live giant squid.)

Published March 26, 2010

Giant Squid Nip/Tuck

Photograph courtesy Auckland University of Technology

Now plastinated but not quite ready for their close-ups, the two giant plastic surgery patients are pinned, clamped, and wired for scientific beauty in the Dalian, China, plastination lab.

Lacking skeletons, the giant squid required the hardware to hold lifelike poses while the squishy specimens cured and polymers hardened around them—a yearlong process.

(See a picture of a "whopper" giant squid that washed ashore in Australia.)

Published March 26, 2010

Hold That Pose

Photograph courtesy and copyright Gunther von Hagens, Institute for Plastination

Positioning the giant squid was the most delicate part of the preservation process. Placement and removal of the needles had to be done with utmost care to avoid damaging the creatures' soft skin.

Later, on seeing the finished product, squid expert Steve O'Shea said the plastination success opened up all sorts of possibilities. For one thing, "we could plasticise a sperm whale," he said, "and display these two mortal enemies in combat."

(Rare pictures: giant squid eaten by sperm whale.)

Published March 26, 2010